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The Acquisition of Differential Object Marking
Edited by Alexandru Mardale and Silvina Montrul
[Trends in Language Acquisition Research 26] 2020
► pp. 21–49

Chapter 1
Acquisition of symmetrical and asymmetrical Differential Object Marking in Estonian

| University of Tartu
| University of Manchester
| University of Manchester

We compared the acquisition of symmetrical and asymmetrical Differential Object Marking (DOM) within Estonian, which employs symmetrical DOM (alternation between overtly case-marked objects) with asymmetrical subsystems (alternation between marked and unmarked objects) for imperatives, impersonal voice constructions and plural objects. This difference in marking symmetry is linked to differences in form frequency and morphological complexity, with both factors affecting language acquisition. Through a detailed corpus analysis, we found that marking symmetry has an effect on one child’s DOM usage at ages 2;0 and 3;0. The child uses more marked objects overall and makes more errors of commission than omission in asymmetrical contexts, using case-marked objects in place of unmarked ones. Morphological complexity and frequency of form-function pairings were found to affect acquisition.

Keywords: child language, Estonian, morphological complexity, case marking, case omission
Article outline
  • 1.Introduction
  • 2.Background
    • 2.1Previous research on the acquisition of DOM
    • 2.2Frequency and morphological complexity
    • 2.3DOM in Estonian
    • 2.4Predictions
  • 3.Corpus study: Quantitative analysis
    • 3.1Method
      • Predictors
    • 3.2Results of quantitative analysis
  • 4.Nominative objects and errors in DOM
    • 4.1Nominative objects
      • 4.1.1Imperative clauses
      • 4.1.2Plural objects
    • 4.2Errors
  • 5.Discussion and conclusions
  • Abbreviations
  • Acknowledgements
  • Notes
  • References
Published online: 18 June 2020
DOI logo
https://doi.org/10.1075/tilar.26.01vih
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